Authorities in Laayoune, Morocco have been subjecting sub-Saharan migrants to constant harassment, an Ivorian in the city has told InfoMigrants. He said scores of migrants are being arrested and detained every day and "danger is everywhere."
Samir* worked for over a year using false papers for the DPD delivery group in the Paris region. Frustrated by the working conditions, which he describes as "slavery", the Algerian started a strike with 70 other colleagues, who were also undocumented. For four months, the strikers have been demanding to have their situation regularized.
The three far-right candidates in the French presidential election – Marine Le Pen, Éric Zemmour and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan – have made immigration their main electoral issue. They all want to abolish State Medical Aid, birthright citizenship and family reunification. But are their proposals actually feasible?
Daniel Merla is a priest in the small town of Siret, on the Romanian side of the border with Ukraine. An estimated 70,000 people have fled here since the Russian attack on Ukraine started on February 24. Every evening, Merla swaps his religious attire for that of a humanitarian to assist displaced Ukrainians. He has found himself crying every day, he says.
In northeastern Romania, a steady stream of displaced people has been pouring through the Siret border crossing point. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, 63,000 people have arrived in this small town of 8,000 inhabitants. The refugees can count on the solidarity of the Romanians, who are coming out in large numbers to welcome them.
A number of French presidential candidates and politicians have held up Greece as a model for its border and migrant management, including French presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. That's despite the "prison-like" conditions in Greek camps called out by rights groups and the practice of illegal pushbacks which has been condemned by the UN.
With less than two months before the first round of the French presidential election, immigration is once again a major campaign issue for a number of candidates. While the issue has always been a source of passion and tension, "the debate has become more radical," says François Héran, chair of Migrations and Societies at the Collège de France, and author of the book 'Parlons immigration en 30 questions' ('Let's talk about immigration in 30 questions').
Previously confined to far-right circles, the "great replacement" theory is taking hold more widely in political discourse. For the first time, the term has been used by a Republican right-wing presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse.
The centers for unaccompanied minors in the Canary Islands have reached saturation point. Regional officials say that without state aid, new arrivals will be forced to sleep on the streets.
Contrary to what the far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour has claimed, not all asylum seekers receive €430 per month from the state. Moreover, Zemmour is mistaken when he says that social housing is mainly occupied by foreigners. InfoMigrants debunks some of his claims.
In the eastern Pyrenees, on the border between France and Spain, the number of migrants arriving is increasing. French authorities said they intercepted a record number of 13,000 people in 2021 in Cerbère, the first French village after the border. In the nearest big city Perpignan, associations helping migrants say they are overwhelmed.
The new web series "7 rue du rendez-vous" is aimed at helping foreigners to learn the French language and cultural idioms through entertainment. The first episodes will be available on YouTube at the end of January.